Belly Button Box - Would You Save the Umbilical Cord?
We take pictures to preserve precious memories, cut locks of those sweet baby curls for the baby book. Some parents even save their children’s teeth. But is this trend of saving every artifact of a kid’s childhood going too far?
Take, for instance, the belly button box.
This teardrop box is made out of wood especially designed to preserve baby’s umbilical cord for years to come. Sold in Japan for under $7, it can even be personalized with baby’s name or a message.
And if that’s not enough nostalgia for you, the company also sells boxes for baby’s first fingernail clippings.
While this might seem a little weird, it’s actually common in some cultures for parents to save their baby’s umbilical cord, either for the child or for themselves. In some First Nation tribes the umbilical cord is placed in a medicine pouch, a sign of respect for the connection between mother and child or the child and Mother Earth.
Weirder, I think, is the idea of saving fingernail clippings. But then again, some might think that the little locks of hair I have taped into my girls’ baby books is strange, too. Or the vial of my baby teeth that my mom still has in her old jewelry box.
It boils down to the fact that children are only small for a few short years. Their childhood’s slip through our fingers, even as we grasp at ways to hang on to them. These small mementos don’t slow down those sands of time, but maybe they’re our way of hanging on those moments that pass so quickly.
What about you? Have you saved things like baby hair, baby teeth, or even the umbilical cord? Or do you stick to taking pictures?
Photo: inventorspot.com
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Tags: babies, baby, baby book, belly button box, mementos, memories, moms, newborn, parents, umbilical cord
6 Comments
su_moo commented on Aug 31 09 at 1:33 pmI’ve saved her umbilical cord. My mother saved mine. My grandmother saved hers. Etc. In our culture, that is what you do.
Shana commented on Aug 31 09 at 3:08 pmIn my parents culture the cord is saved. But I had no real desire to have it. But back to that box, how could you not translate what it is called? Come on yauki (essentially yucky)! That is kind of funny considering what is going in it. I do not know what that mean, but phonetically that is pretty hilarious.
Ali commented on Aug 31 09 at 4:08 pmWe saved ours from our newborns. It is done in our culture.
GGsmama commented on Aug 31 09 at 5:08 pmWe saved our daughters, in a little jewelery box. I dunno, it felt weird to throw it out. It kind of looks like a little piece of bacon
GiantPanda commented on Sep 01 09 at 12:34 amMy two babies were both born in Japan, and the hospital gave us this dinky little wooden box to hold the belly button stump when it fell off, but I felt a bit grossed out by the idea. I asked the nurses why you would keep it, and the only explanation they suggested was that you could do a DNA test on it later! (why would you bother, when you can just DNA test the baby???)
rainyhen commented on Sep 07 09 at 6:47 pmComments
My mother is Chinese, and she used to tell me that when I was born, she made soup out of it. Sounds gross, I know, but according to the Chinese, it is full of nutrients and such, and therefore, traditionally made into soup!
